The Gunshot Trio
by 694377
Summary: Three Gunslingers: Vincent Valentine, Irvine Kinneas & Balthier, fire & reload their guns in an abandoned courtyard in the dead of night as they are set on a mission to find and eliminate one another...


A dark and sinister night lay over a courtyard like a blanket over a bed. Only a few stars shone their pale dim light down onto the concrete ground, casting a mild reflection of light. The moon in the night sky towered over it like a threatening empire waiting to give out tyrannous orders. As for the courtyard itself, pure silence lay within. The air was cold, like flesh on steel. A gunshot from the far end fired out at a rooftop. The dark figure jumped down from the rooftop, rolled towards a wall, and hid. His blood red cape was lifted slightly as a slight breeze begun to pick up, and refreshed him. Vincent Valentine's bloodshot eyes showed determination, loneliness, and concentration as he cocked his Cerberus Handgun and slowly moved his head towards the end of the brick wall. The sound of a sniper rifle being fired in the distance, but not at himself.

Up in the north spire hid a man wearing a cowboy hat and a cream-colored jacket ducked down as he pulled his rifle inside with him to reload. Flipping it open, he slipped in another bullet and slowly brought himself up once more. Irvine Kinneas moved out his head a little to see the location of the two targets. They were nowhere to be see. In a moment of action, Irvine rolled towards the staircase and slowly but surely treaded carefully down incase anyone was coming up to finish him for good.

The third and final person hid behind a large pillar towards the east where he may be unseen due to his location being in the shadows. His sawn-off shotgun reflected the view from both sides as he held it out so, therefor he was able to make out where the other two men were from his view. Balthier's breath condensed as the night grew colder with each passing second. Making a quick move he quickly swerved by his pillar and out into the courtyard and dived towards the central fountain, of which he was being shot at from the south by Vincent, only just missing his leg by inches. A quick sigh of relief expressed his emotions as the shot from the Cerberus Handgun was too close to call.

Still having at least 4 more shots in his gun, the mysterious cloaked Vincent shot once before running towards the other side of the wall. There, he was able to see the shoulder of an unsuspecting Balthier. His emotionless face showed everything, and therefor spun out and aimed his gun as fast as an Eagle towards its prey. Valentine's shot was off by a few meters as his attention was knocked toward a bullet which hit the wall behind him, the place he had previously been before. Having no time at all to look for a safe spot to run, he dived towards the wall on the west, the place closest to Balthier's last place near the pillars. Vincent's position was known to both Balthier and a well-hidden Irvine at this moment, and any escape from his position would be futile.

Towards the north-west, Irvine re-loaded his Sniper Rifle once more before taking up his position at a window on the 2nd floor of the building around the courtyard. The dead of night sent chills down his spine as he edged closer towards the window. His attention was drawn towards Balthier, who had seen Irvine's shot towards Vincent and had ran towards the door on the west, thus he may be inside the building. A drop of sweat fell down his face and hit the wooded floorboards. Kinneas was determined to get the shot on Valentine, therefor stayed at his current position and placed his head towards the jet black scope. Vincent was no longer visible. Bored, he made his way towards the door and moved towards the right-hand side just incase Vincent saw him through the left-hand side window.

2 shots remained within his Cerberus Handgun, and he had no more ammo left to use. This battle had gone on for 10 minutes in this deserted courtyard area, and already tensions were high with all of the gunslingers. Twisting his gun towards himself and edging it out a little, the gun's reflection showed an open window on the second floor but there were signs of nobody occupying it at this moment. Vincent Valentine swiftly moved out and ran through the shadows of the pillars being cast by the moon in the night sky, and towards the locked door on the right of the courtyard. Kicking it open, he dived away from anything being fired at him on the outside, and stood towards the doorframe. As he crouched, Vincent panted 4 times before his feet moved towards the stairs and under 3 sets of windows. Reaching the end of the windows, his body arose from the floor, and up the stairs with patience as he was determined not to waste these last two shots of his.

Balthier calmly walked up the stairs without a second thought that anyone would try to fire at him. His footsteps echoes throughout the area as he came to a halt at the doorway, checking his gun for any more shots he had left. 2 remain. With a brief sigh of embarrassment of the fact he used up more than he ever had done before, Balthier ducked down low and slowly scurried up the corridor. As he attempted not to make the slightest sound, the breeze of the night swept through and refreshed him, plus calmed him down a little. Irvine's last location was further up ahead from his own location, therefor took things slowly as can be incase any sign of movement from his direction attracted the attention of the Sharpshooter. Instead, things seemed calm for the moment, and silence was cast all around the courtyard and the inside of the building surrounding it. Roughly 10 meters away, he aimed his sawn-off shotgun out of the window and fired a shot into the night sky in a way to take the attention of the unsuspecting Sharpshooter and ex-Turk. Balthier sat and waited with a slight smile of delight creeping across his face. The sound of a handgun was also fired in reaction to the shot.

As the night seemed like an infinite abyss, Irvine placed his Rifle in a vertical position before moving it out to see if Balthier had come yet. To his surprise a nearby gunshot broke the silence of the courtyard, which accidentally made him drop his Rifle, which fired his second-to-last bullet down the hallway in the opposite direction Balthier was at. His face showed everything he was feeling at this moment - fear, frustration, excitement. His gloved hand reached towards his cowboy hat, and place it on the edge of the window - sure nobody was outside anymore. The courtyard itself was still, all but the fountain in the center moved as the water fell down and into the small pool holding the water in. Kinneas took up his Sniper Rifle once more as he took out his last bullet from his utility belt, and slipped it in before slowly standing up to take up his position, sure that Balthier was only a few meters down the corridor. A smile of confidence came about upon young Kinneas' face the passing shadow of Vincent moved along the corridor towards the north. Taking up his rifle, his eye met the scope as the shadow moved along the wall.

From the previous shot in reaction to a gunshot towards the west, Vincent Valentine's ammo was down to 1. He rushed down the hallway on the 2nd floor of the building surrounding the courtyard towards a nearby doorframe. Unknown to him, the shadow of his blood-red cape was cast upon the wall beside him from the moon and stars. Upon discovery, Vincent pulled his cloak down from the slight breeze and rolled towards the doorframe, taking up his position behind it. A quick sigh came from him as no gunshots were fired at him from his quick reaction. Ready to pounce, everyone made their move. Balthier rolled towards Irvine's direction as did Vincent, and Irvine himself rolled back at the sight of the two men rushing him. As fast as lightning, they pulled out their guns. Balthier had Irvine, who had Vincent, who had Balthier. Everyone of them had a gun of some sort pointed at their heads. Seconds went by as their emotionless faces looked at the person whom pointed a gun at them. Silence. The location around them slowly crumbled into tiny pieces as they all lowered their guns down towards their side.

"Virtual Reality Training - Mission Complete"

The courtyard, corridors, building, spires, it all fell apart like a complete jigsaw puzzle being taken apart by one piece at a time, until the three men stood in the center of a large glass room with 3 entrances allowing access in or out. They all shared a brief smile and offered a handshake to each other before turning and heading off in their own separate direction...


End file.
